Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Earns Outperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $95.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NDAQ. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Argus boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.20.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NDAQ opened at $78.02 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $44.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $54.90 and a 52 week high of $83.77.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total transaction of $454,260.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 215,563 shares in the company, valued at $16,320,274.73. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total value of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock worth $3,811,808. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1,022.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 409,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,743,000 after purchasing an additional 373,376 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,169,000 after buying an additional 1,926 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,099,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 8.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 90,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,618,000 after buying an additional 6,704 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 38.6% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 60,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,420,000 after acquiring an additional 16,868 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.